NFC: Seattle Seahawks 23, New Orleans Saints 15 The last time these two teams met in the playoffs, Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown in a winning effort. This time, Lynch rushed for 140 yards and two scores to help the Seahawks advance to their second NFC Championship Game – despite quarterback Russell Wilson only completing 9 of 18 passes for 108 yards – since 2005. The win was the Seahawks' fifth consecutive home playoff win, as they have not lost at home in the playoffs since being defeated by the St. Louis Rams in 2004. The Seahawks dominated the first half, jumping to a 16–0 lead while holding Saints quarterback Drew Brees – who passed for over 5,000 yards during the season – to just 34 yards. New Orleans was forced to punt on their opening drive, and punter Thomas Morstead bobbled the rain-soaked ball at the snap before shanking a 16-yard kick that gave Seattle a first down on the Saints' 40-yard line. The Seahawks then drove 20 yards, aided by a penalty for unnecessary roughness on safety Rafael Bush, and took a 3–0 lead on Steven Hauschka's 38-yard field goal. New Orleans responded with a drive to the Seattle 27-yard line, but Shayne Graham missed a 47-yard field goal attempt. Seattle then drove 34 yards and increased their lead to 6–0 with Hauschka's second field goal, this one from 49 yards out with 37 seconds left in the first quarter. On the first play of the second quarter, defensive end Michael Bennett forced and recovered a fumble from New Orleans running back Mark Ingram on the Saints' 24-yard line. Following a 9-yard run by Percy Harvin, Lynch scored on a 15-yard touchdown carry to increase Seattle's lead to 13–0. Later on, the Saints got a scoring opportunity when Jon Ryan's 24-yard punt gave them a first down on the Seahawks' 48-yard line. But they could only progress to the 29-yard line, and on 4th down and 4, linebacker Bobby Wagner ended the drive by breaking up Brees' pass. On the Seahawks' ensuing drive, Lynch broke off an 18-yard run, while Wilson completed a 16-yard pass to Harvin and rushed for 25 yards himself as the team drove 68 yards to take a 16–0 first half lead on Hauschka's third field goal. On the Saints' first drive of the second half, they managed to reach the Seahawks 34-yard line. But once again they failed to score as Bennett and Cliff Avril sacked Brees for a 10-yard loss on third down, pushing New Orleans out of field goal range. The Saints built some momentum towards the end of the quarter, on Brees' 23-yard completion to reserve tight end Josh Hill. On the next play, Brees' 25-yard completion to Marques Colston gave the team a first down on the Seattle 14-yard line, and they eventually scored with Khiry Robinson's 1-yard touchdown run. Ingram ran for a successful 2-point conversion, cutting their deficit to 16–8 early in the fourth quarter. New Orleans then forced a punt and seemed primed to score again when Brees completed a 30-yard pass to Kenny Stills from the Saints' 42-yard line; the play was negated by holding from tackle Zach Strief, forcing a punt. By the time they got the ball back again, only 5:31 remained. They subsequently drove to the Seattle 30-yard line, but Shayne Graham missed a 48-yard field goal, giving the ball back to the Seahawks with 3:51 to go. Faced with 3rd down and 3 after their first two plays, Wilson managed to complete a 24-yard pass to Doug Baldwin for a first down. On the next play, Lynch took off for a 31-yard touchdown run, giving the Seahawks a 23–8 lead. Brees completed 6 of 8 passes as he led his team down the field eighty yards in nine plays, the last coming on fourth down and 6 from the Seahawks' nine-yard line when he found Colston in the end zone for a touchdown. Shayne Graham kicked the extra point to put New Orleans within eight with twenty-six seconds remaining. On the subsequent kickoff, Graham's onside kick was bobbled by Seattle receiver Golden Tate at the Saints' 42 yard line, allowing Colston to recover for New Orleans, at the 41-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Brees found tight end Jimmy Graham for eight yards, then spiked the ball to stop the clock. On the next play, Brees found Colston along the sideline at the Seattle 38 yard line. Instead of running out of bounds to stop the clock and give the Saints one more chance, Colston turned back toward the field of play and attempted to keep the play going by relaying the ball across the field to teammate Travaris Cadet. However, the throw by Colston to Cadet was forward – therefore not qualifying as a lateral – resulting in an illegal-forward-pass penalty which included a game-ending runoff; thus, the Seahawks won, 23–15. Brees finished the game with 309 passing yards and a touchdown. Colston caught 11 passes for 144 yards and a score. Bennett had 6 tackles, half a sack, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.

• published: 13 Aug 2015
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